Not much has been written about a third group, those who perform clinical studies for extra money, but they are a significant part of the clinical trial landscape. Clinical studies for money have the opportunity to be larger and more comprehensive than those that do not offer any form of compensation. Offering financial compensation to participants also allows clinical trial study sponsors to more effectively drive the right types of individuals into clinical trials.
Yet, it is important to plan research studies that focus on drug development and offer financial compensation carefully.
Without appropriate preparation, a clinical study for money can face problems that would be unusual for other types of studies. This has the potential to pollute data and affect results. With that in mind, clinical studies for money are best done with by study sponsors with the appropriate experience and expertise.
With the emergence of COVID-19 and its effect on the larger population, research studies for money that are also focused on vaccines have emerged as a way to test new vaccination options. These types of studies generally provide some type of compensation or payment to individuals who participate in order to quickly run trials and get drugs to market. With that, here are some advantages and disadvantages for running research studies for money.